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Cohort studyEye (London, England) · 2026

Area Deprivation and Social Vulnerability Are Associated with Pediatric Vision Screening Outcomes in the University of California, Irvine EyeMobile Program.

Jainam Shah, John D Hong, Kimia Rezaei … Donny W Suh

OphthalmologyCohort study

Children in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods had higher odds of amblyopia suspicion

Area Deprivation and Social Vulnerability Are Associated with Pediatric Vision Screening Outcomes in the University of California, Irvine EyeMobile Program.

Jainam Shah … Donny W Suh

Eye (London, England) · 2026

Background

The Area Deprivation Index (Area Deprivation Index) and Social Vulnerability Index (Social Vulnerability Index) are nationally validated neighborhood-level measures of socioeconomic disadvantage but remain understudied in pediatric ophthalmology.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of children aged 3-10 years screened by the UCI EyeMobile program (Orange County, California, United States) from 2021-2024.

n = 15,842 children

Results

greater neighborhood disadvantage nearly doubled the risk of a lazy-eye flag

aOR 1.78 (95% CI 1.30 to 2.43)

null 1

1.30

2.43

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

Children in Q4 neighborhoods had higher referral rates and were more likely to require new spectacles despite passing screening.

Myopia was less common, whereas astigmatism was more common in Q4.

After adjustment, both poor BCVA and amblyopia suspect status increased across quartiles (p-trend < 0.001).

More results

Significant interactions were observed, with stronger Q4 versus Q1 effects among Hispanic (aOR: 1.87) and Asian (aOR: 1.62) children, but not among Caucasian children.

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

Children from the most disadvantaged neighborhoods had higher odds of amblyopia suspect status and poor BCVA.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

These findings support incorporating Area Deprivation Index/Social Vulnerability Index in pediatric vision care to identify underserved children proactively, allocate resources equitably, and reduce the risk of permanent visual impairment.

Post

Area Deprivation and Social Vulnerability Are Associated with Pediatric Vision Screening Outcomes in the University of California, Irvine EyeMobile Program.

Children in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods had higher odds of amblyopia suspicion

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